Did Ad Age Just Suggest JetBlue NOT Advertise? No, It's About the Experience!

“JetBlue is missing the point with its recent ad push. What it needs is to get back to what made it a media and consumer darling: customer service and good internal and external communication.”

“… convincing more people to fly doesn't seem like a smart move for an airline that has trouble handling the passengers it already has. It won't fool new passengers, and it will only upset current passengers. JetBlue achieved its success by being unlike the other airlines. Its good name spread -- via word-of-mouth and smart marketing -- because great customer service gave it a compelling story to tell.”

“Priority No. 1 should be getting back to a place where consumers want to share good stories. Take the money being wasted on that campaign and plow it into customer service.”

While it seems Ad Age might be suggesting JetBlue suspend it's advertising, the editorial really speaks to two non-advertising needs: Providing a great experience for consumers and being transparent. These are the two foundations upon which Word of Mouth is created in the age of social media.

Advertising is and will always be critical, but it cannot overcome poor experiences. Advertising creates the promise, but if your brand cannot deliver on that promise, then you're setting yourself up for failure. Saying what you do and doing what you say is no longer a competitive difference but table stakes in the era of Facebook, Twitter, Epinions, Complaints.com, the Comcast Sucks and Taco Bell rats videos, and MyThreeCents, where people are complaining about JetBlue for everything from lost luggage to unannounced flight changes to unrefunded tickets.

Of course, as Abraham Lincoln almost said, "You can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can't please all the people all the time." The goal isn't to prevent any and all complaints from reaching the Web, and trying to do so will cause attention and resources to be dedicated where they are not going to best use. All a brand can do is get its product and service right (not simply "right enough"), create a genuine brand using all the tools available to marketers, and engage consumers in the places where they're praising or complaining about the brand.

Walking the talk means more than just living up to your advertising promises. In 2008, it's also about being focused on customer needs wherever your customers are--even on Twitter! (Especially on Twitter!)

4 comments:

Morgan
said...

Thanks for the feedback - Twitter is a growing medium and it'll take some time for rules and norms to establish themselves when it comes to a corporation's involvement.

If it helps, while we may not regularly respond to people's compliments or concerns publicly out of deference to the rest of our 'followers,' we do engage in DM conversations with with as many as possible.

I'd love to claim total credit for the J.D Power and Associates award, but it's truly a testament to our crewmembers who strive to keep customers relaxed and informed during their travels. They're an inspiration for me every day.

Jet Blue has lost its way. It's CEO use to take its flights for feedback. Now management won't even take phone calls nor will they let complaints be escalated to them. Here is my most recent experience.

On July 13, my sister and 96 year old mother arrived at SFO two hours early for a delayed flight and went directly to the terminal on their computer printed boarding pass. But Jet Blue changed the gate to one in a completely different security corridor and pushed up the flight time making it impossible for my mother or sister to get to their gate on time. They also had no one at the originally assigned gate to direct passengers to the new gate or to assist the elderly and disabled through secure areas to expedite the transfer. Clearly they don’t care that my mother is 96 and uses a walker and, having missed the flight, had to wait for another 8 hours for the next flight. Isn’t this a delay caused by Jet Blue? I think any impartial observer would agree it is. But Jet Blue is not impartial and clearly has a conflict of interest in deciding who should be compensated. The result is that the Rights Jet Blue protects are its own. I have escalated this problem but, though I requested someone in Senior management Jet Blue assigned a “specialist” who handles ADA type complaints. She is investigating. Waiting for a response from their airport manager in San Francisco. But why? They know what the original gate was and how far it was from the reassigned gate. They also know there was no assistance provided getting from one place to the other.

Any impartial observer can easily see who is at fault here. But Jet Blue has a conflict of interest, and they know it. So why bother with a Passenger Bill of Rights if you don't plan to live up to the spirit in which it was created? I guess they'd rather say they're doing something than have congress do it for them. But true concern for the customer, that's a thing of the past. If it costs them money to gain customer satisfaction you can be sure the answer will be no. I think this seals their fate.

About Experience: The Blog

The world is changing rapidly, both for consumers and brands. Consumers are more empowered than ever before and traditional business models are under attack.

In an increasingly social, mobile and real-time world, brands are created not by the messages they broadcast but by the experiences they offer--ones that create empathy, build trust, earn loyalty, spur Word of Mouth, encourage collaboration, and provide ever greater value to customers in innovative ways. On this blog, we explore how brands are built and business improved via Customer Experience Management, purposeful corporate culture, social and mobile business strategy and collaborative economy models.

You are welcome to participate, criticize, praise, critique, expand, or correct the information and opinions found on this blog. Spam, off-topic, or crude comments will be deleted, but all others are welcome.

About the Author

I am Augie Ray, Research Director covering customer experience at Gartner. I conduct and publish research and advise Fortune 500 clients on the value, process, measurement and tools of customer experience. This includes topics such as Voice of the Customer (VoC), personas, customer journey maps, CX governance, and customer experiences metrics that are leading metrics of brand success.

Previously, I was Director of Global Voice of Customer Strategy for a Fortune 100 financial service company. My background includes more than 20 years of experience in digital, brand, customer experience and social media.

In the past, I led social business at USAA, a firm recognized for its innovative use of communities and social customer care within the financial service industry. I also consulted and published analysis as a Forrester analyst covering digital marketing and social media. In addition, I led a diverse $9 million agency team with specialties in digital development, digital experiential marketing and community strategy.

The future will bring a great deal of innovation that offers opportunities to organizations that are agile and willing to cannibalize their own business models (but it will severely challenge those organizations that cannot.)

The views expressed on this website/blog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.